Conscience
As part of my psychology studies in college I recently heard a lecture on the relationship between the conscience and the ego. Is there a Jewish view of these topics? Are the two concepts contradictory or one in the same?
Conception, Pregnancy and the Beginning of Life
Thanks for your reply. If I understand correctly, then, before 40 days one can talk about life of the embryo/fetus from a biologic but not a halachic perspective? This raises a second question — have the rabbis discussed the status of Adam after he was fashioned but before God breathed life into him?
Conception: The Death of a Fetus in Halacha
Would it make sense to speak of death in halachic terms for an embryo (or developing fetus) before there is a circulatory system functioning? If so, what would be the principle for consideration?
Cohen and Marriage
Why can’t a Cohen marry a divorced woman? Is she less than others because of her unfortunate situation?
Coffins and Burial
A company is selling “a variety of eco-friendly, biodegradable burial products including Ecopod, a kayak-shaped coffin made out of recycled newspapers,” according to the newspaper story, it will also offer “fair-trade bamboo caskets lined w/bleached cotton” and “more traditional-looking handcrafted coffins made of wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. “Prices of the biodegradable containers start at about $100 for a basic cardboard box. “Biodegradable coffins are part of a larger trend toward ‘natural’ burials, which require no formaldehyde embalming, cement vaults, chemical lawn treatments or laminated caskets,” the article also says.
This all sounds very Jewish to me (for different basic
reasons, of course); I’d like to know if a traditional burial would be
kosher in a cardboard box or recycled newspaper coffin — since both cardboard and newspaper are basically made of wood to start with. Or might there be other elements in them to render such things unkosher?